Penn State Approved For Medical Marijuana Clinical Research

"The selection of two entities to be eligible for registration as a manufacturing facility is a major milestone in implementing the medical marijuana program", saidd Jason Wahl, director of the Division of Medical Marijuana.

Gov. Tom Wolf announced this week that Penn State was among eight universities selected for the Commonwealth to begin clinical research of medical marijuana, something he said will differentiate Pennsylvania from other states.

Penn State's College of Medicine has been approved by the Pennsylvania Department of Health as a Certified Academic Clinical Research Center for the state's medical marijuana program. "Pennsylvania's premiere medical schools will be able to help shape the future of treatment for patients who are in desperate need not just here, but across the country", Wolf said in the release.

"By adding opioid-use disorder as an approved medical condition under the program, we not only give physicians another tool for treatment of this devastating disease, but we allow for research to be conducted on medical marijuana's effectiveness in treatment", Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine.

"Penn State College of Medicine has an opportunity to play an integral role in advancing society's understanding of the medical potential of marijuana and assisting in the development of safe and effective therapies", Neil Sharkey, Penn State's vice president for research, said in a statement.

The other institutions approved for research are Drexel, Temple, Thomas Jefferson, UPenn, Pitt, Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine. "It's important to note that medical marijuana is not a substitute for proven treatments for opioid-use disorder".

More than 37,000 patients have registered for the medical marijuana program, and more than 16,000 have already received their ID cards and received medical marijuana at a dispensary.